


Arle and Satan

by Tria101



Category: Puyo Puyo, 魔導物語 | Madou Monogatari Series (Video Games)
Genre: Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 15:37:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15643752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tria101/pseuds/Tria101
Summary: After "Doppel Arle" finds herself on an unknown island and Satan wakes up from a nightmare, both reflect on the "current" world.





	Arle and Satan

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really bad at titles and summaries, but this is a very short, very straight forward drabble so hopefully it's forgivable.

...Hmm...  
The ringmaster sighed as she sat down, resting in her own private tent. She had failed in her attempt to take her rightful place as the real Arle...and somehow, instead of fading away or returning to the void like she had feared, she had instead woken up to find herself and her circus on an island she didn't recognize.  
Her circus...was empty, besides her. She had all of the equipment, the other tents, the carts...but she was alone again. Not that she could be surprised in the slightest, as her original circus had only gotten recruits that belonged to the current world and nothing else.

...She gritted her teeth at the thought.  
It still stung, being alone again. And on top of that, everyone in this word...they weren't real. They were fakes -- replicas of of what once was...except...for Satan...  
She knew he was real. Only he, the only one left besides her, could have accomplished such feats...and what little else he did...  
Saving only a hollow, memory-less half of her soul...  
...What was even the point...? To not be alone? That wasn't right, wasn't fair...not when she herself had to be alone for five hundred years...  
He should have suffered too...not gotten to make a whole little world, a little playground for himself...  
And on top of that, his replicas were imperfect anyway. She had noticed that rather quickly herself, though she couldn't put it past Satan to not notice simply out of naivety or stupidity, or if he just completely didn't care. She wouldn't be surprised whatever the reason for it was, really...or, she felt confident she wouldn't be, anyway.

She tried to relax, beginning to get a headache from the stress. Taking in a deep breath, she got up, opting to pace around outside. She couldn't just sit around inside all day...could she? She'd go stir-crazy...crazier than she already had...crazy enough she wouldn't be able to admit she didn't have all of her eggs in her basket...

...The sun...was that real? That thought crept into her mind, as she briefly peered up at the sky. Could she count that? She supposed only the people could be considered fakes, as she pondered it more...  
It was still warm in the sunlight, the clouds were still fluffy and wispy, the wind still blowed gently as ever...  
...If it wasn't for the situation around it, she supposed she could be content here. Take a nap, maybe...

...Somehow, thinking about it made her want to scream. From rage? Grief? A desire to disturb the peace that shouldn't have existed? She couldn't be sure...

...  
All things considered...  
She wondered...  
How was Satan handling this all...? What did he think of his little dolls? The knowledge that the real things had died five hundred years ago?  
...A small, sadistic smirk crept on her face.  
She hoped...it brought him pain. She hoped it made it hard for him to sleep at night.  
That even with all of his imperfect little dolls around him, he still felt as alone as she did...  
  


* * *

  
"--ARLE!!"  
Satan lurched forward, panting heavily. It took him a moment to realize it was a dream...just a nightmare....  
Sweat dripped off of his face as he caught his breath.  
What a horrid memory...he wished he could forget. But like with Lilith, those events were burned into his mind, no matter how he wanted to shake them...

Feeling more awake than tired, he got out of bed and went to take a walk around the castle.

It was still quite late. Though he couldn't see it very clearly through the windows, the moon was high in the sky, glowing brightly enough alongside the stars that not much light was needed, at least for tonight.  
A perfect time to plot another courting attempt...usually.

He normally did his best thinking on nights like this, when he needed to keep his mind distracted from past issues; they'd never come up again in his life, so why dwell on them? All it did was stress him out more than needed...  
...but tonight, he couldn't break his mind from it for some reason.

How many things was he faking...?

He had lost his real wings a long time ago. So there was one.  
In the same incident, he had lost his real name. Another.  
What else...?  
...Pretending he was less powerful than he actually was?  
Pretending he was more naive and innocent than he truly was?  
He had still never told anyone the horrible fate that befell them so long ago...nor revealed to anyone that they couldn't age anymore. No one had noticed yet, but somehow that made his heart ache more...  
Though he tried to tell himself it was for the best, he still wished there was someone -- at least one other person that knew what he knew...someone he could share that knowledge...  
That would understand that, sometimes, he would act happier than he felt.  
Sure, there were still joy filled days, days where he was content, where his heart was light...  
...but there were also days where he felt empty inside. Nights where he couldn't sleep due to his own infrequent nightmares. Times when he wanted to hurt someone, not out of malice, but a desperate desire to remind himself that the things around him were real...

...They were, weren't they...? Rulue, Draco, Schezo, Arle...Carbuncle...they were all real...right?  
They could all think and feel, of their free will...that was proof enough wasn't it?  
He couldn't admit it to anyone...but there were days when he felt like that wasn't right. Like they were nothing but dolls or puppets he created, playing some kind of intricate show for him solely because he expected it...  
He hadn't even brought them back properly...they acted differently than they used to, though not too obviously for the most part. Any big changes had been smoothed over in their minds thanks to the fake memories he had given them...

Satan paused, leaning against a nearby wall and hugging himself. No one would see his moment of weakness this late, the moment when the Ruler of Hell struggled not to cry...  
He almost wanted to go shake Draco awake just so he could make her say she was real, though he knew it wouldn't help anything, and he wouldn't disturb his loyal servant for something so trivial...  
If he went after Rulue, she'd either get the wrong idea or clue in on the fact something was wrong with him...and he couldn't have that.  
Not after so long of acting like everything was fine...

But on another near sleepless night...what else could he do...? His thoughts wouldn't focus enough for him to plan anything for his beloved Arly...  
...  
...A longer walk...might be for the best for him...just for tonight...


End file.
